When Amazon announced it was accepting proposals for the location of its second headquarters (HQ2), municipalities and regions throughout the world scrambled to respond. The Merrimack Valley Planning Commission was well positioned to approach the proposal from a regional economic development perspective. We worked five of our partner municipalities – Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, and North Andover – to put together a professional competitive bid.

We may not have won the famous HQ2 site, but it appears the region did not walk away empty handed either. We are thrilled to see Amazon’s plans at building a state-of-the-art distribution facility at the 1600 Osgood site, which was included in the HQ2 bid. The facility will be the tech giant’s first footprint into the region and employ up to 1500 workers.

It can be difficult and inefficient for individual cities and towns to take on larger regional economic development initiatives. This is where the Merrimack Valley Regional Planning Commission plays an important role as good stewards of the region. Whether it’s helping entrepreneurs get connected to business support services, or landing the biggest tech giant in the world the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission is here to serve.